Christina Aguilera is skinny, sexy and sassy as Maxim cover girl

"The Voice" mentor and pop star is steaming things up on the October cover of Maxim magazine, posing in an open white men's shirt that gives way (in a major way) to expose her black bra and ample bosom.

Inside the mag, the slimmed-down starlet sizzles in a smoking-hot red dress and vintage bikini paired with stilettos.

"I'm such a down-to-earth girl," she told Maxim. "I'm comfortable in just a jersey and boy's underwear. Trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing you can do. Sexiness should be effortless."

The spread is a departure from the "Feel This Moment" songstress' comedic turn as the butt of jokes on the NBC singing competition a few seasons ago. Her fluctuating weight and excessive makeup on "The Voice" were points of frequent teasing.

Aguilera, who took time off to work on her "Lotus" album last season, pranced around in body-con outfits in her video for "Your Body" in September 2012. She turned heads at the show's Season 4 premiere in March, when she made a surprise appearance on the red carpet.

"The only place I don't need to be in control is the bedroom," Aguilera said. "Sometimes being sexual with my partner is a great way to blow off steam at the end of a hard day's work. I'm not the girl who's going to be too tired."

The pop diva filed for divorce from music exec Jordan Bratman in October 2010. The two married in 2005 and have a son named Max Liron Bratman together. She's since been linked to Matt Rutler, a set assistant she met on her film "Burlesque," and opened up to the magazine about what she's looking for in the opposite sex.

"I love genuine guys; that's why I pretty much stay away from celebrities. I don't care about money, because, trust me, I can support myself," she said.

"The best date for me would be if I came home from work and was greeted with a homemade — no, not takeout — grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of wine," she said. "You set up that little tablecloth and some flowers and light one candle. The simpler, the sexier."

Aguilera also dished on her Mickey Mouse Club cohorts, who included Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling, but refused to say who she thought was cooler.

"They were both very charismatic, but I think I have to shy away from the question. I don't want this to bite me in the butt later. They were tight, you know. They'd walk around together all the time, same as me and Britney [Spears] would. Now look at us. It's funny how that played out."